Lue Gim Gong - Definition and Overview

Born in 1859 to a family of Chinese farmers, Lue Gim Gong [1] (http://www.firn.edu/civiced/images/gong.gif), (呂金功, pinyin: Lǚ Jīngōng) was interested in America and the opportunities that lay over the Pacific Ocean. After his uncle returned from America when Lue was 12, Lue pleaded with his parents to let him go with his uncle to America. His parents agreed, giving him a bolt of silk to sell when he arrived. He lived in a heavily Chinese populated area in San Francisco until the age 16 when he moved to North Adams, Massachusetts to work at a shoe factory. At this factory, Lue met Fannie Burlingame, his Sunday School teacher, who was able to speak both English and Lue's native Chinese. When she learned of his skill with plants, she asked him to live with the Burlingame's to tend their greenhouse. She converted him to Christianity, and helped him become an American citizen in 1877.

Lue had been advised to move to a warmer climate due to his recent contraction of tuberculosis. Due to his conversion, he was unable to return to China. Fannie recommended a relocation to DeLand, Florida, where she and her sister owned land. Lue agreed, and in 1885, he was working once again, this time in orange groves. Lue noticed that the oranges currently in use were very susceptible to cold weather. After experimenting, he finally developed an orange in 1888 that was both sweet and was hardy to cold weather. The “Lue Gim Gong Orange” is still grown in Florida today.

In 1911, Lue was given the Silver Wilder Medal by the American Pomological Society for his orange. Lue died on June 3, 1925, in DeLand.